SENATE BILL 96

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

John Arthur Smith

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; LIMITING GRADE PROMOTIONS BY PROVIDING THAT A STUDENT WHO IS NOT PROFICIENT IN READING AT THE END OF KINDERGARTEN OR FIRST OR SECOND GRADE MAY BE RETAINED AND SHALL BE PROVIDED WITH INTENSIVE REMEDIATION; PROVIDING THAT A STUDENT WHO IS NOT PROFICIENT IN READING AT THE END OF THIRD GRADE SHALL BE RETAINED AND PROVIDED WITH INTENSIVE REMEDIATION; PROVIDING THAT A STUDENT WHO IS NOT ACADEMICALLY PROFICIENT AT THE END OF GRADES FOUR THROUGH EIGHT SHALL NOT BE RETAINED BUT SHALL BE PROVIDED WITH INTENSIVE REMEDIATION; PROVIDING FOR ASSESSMENT, INTERVENTION AND REMEDIATION PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS DEFICIENCIES IDENTIFIED BETWEEN KINDERGARTEN AND THE EIGHTH GRADE; MAKING EXCEPTIONS; REPEALING AND ENACTING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 7, as amended) is repealed and a new Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "22-2C-6. [NEW MATERIAL] GRADE PROMOTIONS--INTERVENTION-- REMEDIATION PROGRAMS--RETENTION POLICIES--RESTRICTIONS.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "educational plan for student success" means a student-centered tool developed to define the role of the reading improvement plan within the public school and the school district that addresses methods to improve student learning and success in school and that identifies specific measures of a student's progress in reading;

                (2) "intensive targeted instruction" means extra instruction in either small groups or as individuals that shall be no less than twenty minutes per day and five days per week or the equivalent;

                (3) "intervention" means targeted instructional practice for individual students or small groups of students aligned with the results of a valid and reliable assessment and, if applicable, response to intervention as defined in Section 22-13-6 NMSA 1978 and department rule;

                (4) "reading improvement plan" means a written document developed by the student assistance team that describes the specific reading standards required for a certain grade level that a student has not achieved and that prescribes specific remediation programs that have demonstrated effectiveness and can be implemented during the intensive targeted instruction within the school day or during summer school or extended day or week programs and with tutoring;

                (5) "reading proficiency" means a score on the statewide standards-based assessment that is higher than the lowest level established by the department;

                (6) "remediation programs" includes summer school, extended day or week programs, tutoring, progress-based monitoring and other research-based models for student improvement;

                (7) "school district" includes both a public school district and a locally chartered or state-chartered charter school;

                (8) "screening assessment" means the assessment that measures the acquisition of reading skills, including but not limited to phonological awareness, phonics, spelling, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension approved and provided by the department;

                (9) "student assistance team" means a group consisting of a student's:

                     (a) teacher;

                     (b) school counselor;

                     (c) school administrator;

                     (d) parent; and

                     (e) if the student or parent wishes, a student advocate chosen by the student or parent; and

                (10) "valid and reliable assessments" means assessments that:

                     (a) are appropriate to targeted populations;

                     (b) provide predictive values; and

                     (c) are thoroughly tested, peer-reviewed and accepted by authorities and practitioners in the field.

          B. Using data from the 2012-2013 school year, each public school shall establish baseline assessment data on reading proficiency for students in kindergarten and grades one through three. The baseline assessment data shall include levels of performance in reading based on the screening assessment below which a student must be provided with an intervention and remediation program.

          C. Effective with the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, local school districts shall approve and bear the cost of intervention and remediation programs and reading improvement programs that have demonstrated effectiveness to provide special instructional assistance to students in kindergarten through third grade who do not demonstrate reading proficiency. Beginning in kindergarten and through third grade, intervention and remediation programs, reading improvement programs and promotion policies shall be aligned with the screening assessment results and be aligned with state standards. The screening assessment shall be given, and, if students do not demonstrate reading proficiency, reading improvement plans shall be implemented for students in kindergarten through third grade as follows:

                (1) at the beginning of the school year, school districts shall administer the screening assessment to students enrolled in kindergarten. The assessment shall screen students for reading skills, including, but not limited to, phonological awareness, letter recognition and oral language skills;

                (2) at the beginning of the school year, school districts shall administer the screening assessment to students enrolled in first, second and third grades. The assessment shall measure the students' acquisition of reading skills, including, but not limited to, phonological awareness, phonics, spelling, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension; and

                (3) if the screening assessment results indicate that the student is not proficient in reading, the student assistance team shall immediately develop a reading improvement plan for the student that clearly delineates the student's reading deficiencies and that clearly delineates intervention and remediation programs that shall be included in the plan, including the specific strategies for a parent to use in helping the child achieve reading proficiency.

          D. Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the parent of a student who is in kindergarten or first, second or third grade and who is not proficient in reading at the end of the first grading period shall be given notice that the student shall be provided with intensive targeted instruction.               E. At the end of grade three, grade promotion and retention decisions for each student shall be based upon the determination that the student is:

                (1) proficient in reading and shall enter the next highest grade;

                (2) not proficient in reading and shall participate in the required level of remediation. Upon certification by the school district that the student is proficient in reading, the student shall enter the next highest grade; or

                (3) not proficient in reading after completion of the prescribed intervention and remediation program and upon the recommendation of the teacher and school principal shall be retained in the same grade with a reading improvement plan that is different from the prior year's reading improvement plan developed by the student assistance team so that the student may become proficient in reading. No student shall be retained for a total of more than one school year between kindergarten and grades one through three as a result of not having attained proficiency in reading.

          F. In grades four through eight, intervention and remediation programs, reading improvement programs and promotion policies shall be aligned with school-district-approved, valid and reliable assessment results and be aligned with state standards.

          G. A parent shall be notified in writing no later than the end of the second grading period of each school year in grades four through eight that the parent's student is not academically proficient, and a conference with the student assessment team shall be held to discuss strategies, including intervention and remediation programs available to assist the student in becoming academically proficient. The student's specific academic deficiencies and the available strategies and intervention and remediation programs shall be explained to the student's parent and a written intervention plan shall be developed that contains time lines, academic expectations and the measurements to be used to verify that a student has overcome academic deficiencies. The parent shall be provided with specific strategies to use in helping the student achieve reading proficiency. The intervention and remediation programs and reading improvement plan shall be implemented immediately.

          H. At the end of grades four through eight, grade promotion decisions for each student shall be based upon the determination that the student is:

                (1) academically proficient and shall enter the next highest grade; or

                (2) not academically proficient and shall participate in the required level of remediation. An academic proficiency plan shall be developed by the student assistance team outlining time lines and monitoring activities to ensure progress toward overcoming the student's academic deficiencies. Students who have been evaluated to determine the nature of their academic deficiencies and who have received an intervention and remediation program that is different from the previous year's program but fail to become academically proficient at the end of that year as measured by grades, performance on the screening assessment and other measures identified by the school district shall be provided with an alternate program that shall be implemented immediately. The school district shall include percentages of academically proficient students listed by school and charter school in its annual accountability report required in Section 22-2C-11 NMSA 1978.

          I. To assess each student's growth in reading and other academic subjects, in kindergarten through second grade, school districts shall use the screening assessment, and in grades three through eight, school districts shall use the statewide standards-based assessment.

          J. The cost of summer school and extended day intervention and remediation programs offered in grades nine through twelve shall be borne by the parent; however, in cases in which parents are determined to be indigent according to guidelines established by the department, the school district shall bear those costs.

          K. A student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency for two successive school years shall be referred to the student assistance team for placement in an alternative program designed by the school district. Alternative program plans shall be filed with the department.

          L. Promotion and retention decisions affecting a student enrolled in special education shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the individual educational plan established for that student.

          M. A student shall be exempt from the provisions of Subsection G of this section if the student:

                (1) scores at least at the fiftieth percentile on a department-approved, norm-referenced assessment or at the proficient level on an alternative school-district-approved, criterion-referenced assessment;

                (2) demonstrates mastery on a teacher-developed portfolio that is equal to at least a proficient performance on the statewide standards-based assessments;

                (3) shows sufficient academic growth by meeting acceptable levels of academic performance specified by the department;

                (4) is an English language learner who is proficient in a language other than English on a valid and reliable reading assessment or who has had less than two years of instruction in English for speakers of other languages;

                (5) is a student with a disability who shall be assessed, promoted or retained in accordance with the provisions of the student's individualized education program; or

                (6) is a student who has already been retained once in kindergarten or first or second grades."

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